XLena: Honey, I realize you want sympathetic noises and not advice, so I'll only say this once. Get out of this relationship. It's poison.Ellen: It's not like that! I love him. And he still loves me, I know he does. I just... he could be a lot worse to me. He only slept around the once that I know of. He's never hit me.Lena: I never minded hitting much. They say you're selfish or crazy or mean, that gets under your skin, oui? Because maybe you are. But they start in hitting, you don't have to worry about who's wrong. Then you know.Ellen: Rafe's not gonna hit me. He don't dare. I can make this work. Ain't like I got something better to do or someplace else to go. An' I wouldn't leave if I could.Lena: Maybe. But whether you change your mind or not, you're welcome here anytime.Ellen: Really?Lena: Really.Ellen: Can I come tomorrow?Lena: Once I finish work, I'm all yours.Ellen: How soon do you finish? Do you work every day? If I come see you at work --Lena: Ellie, don't make me regret that 'anytime'.

... And, yeah, we switched storylines again. Between the extended visit to the Greenwharves and the hiatus it's been a while. If you haven't caught on to this trick yet, clicking on either of the 'when last we saw...' links above may help remember where I was....

The moons of the Khan's children fall, save Temur's -- and he, too, is hunted by his ambitious cousin. But more than one kingdom is at stake: the cult of the sorceror-king sows chaos that it may reap the world....